Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Assessment Of Disturbance Effects Of An Existing Wind Energy Facility On Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus) Breeding Season Ecology In The Sandhills Of Nebraska, Jocelyn O. Harrison

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Recent wind energy development in the Great Plains of North America has given rise to concerns of potential impacts on the greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus). Recent studies in fragmented landscapes have suggested greater prairie-chickens may avoid wind facilities, which may lead to habitat loss and negative impacts on reproduction and survival. But, it is unknown if there is a similar effect in contiguous grass landscapes. Thus, we investigated the effect of a pre-existing, 36-turbine wind energy facility on greater prairie-chicken nesting, brood-rearing, and spatial ecology in the Nebraska Sandhills. We captured and marked 78 female greater prairie-chickens …